When you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods. (Galatians 4:8)

Today's reflection is by 
Thea Keith-Lucas, Episcopal Chaplain at MIT

In the movie The Examined Life, the disability activist Sunaura Taylor describes the experience of being judged because of the things her body cannot do. Because her joints are fused and her muscles weakened, she needs to do many tasks differently or to ask for help. To purchase a cup of coffee, she has to choose between carrying the cup in her mouth or asking someone to carry it for her. The first time she went to a coffee shop alone, she sat outside a long time trying to find the courage to go in.
 
Taylor makes a distinction between being impaired and being disabled. Her body may be impaired from carrying out certain tasks on her own. But she only becomes disabled when her community refuses to accommodate her body as it is.
 
We assume people should be self-sufficient, so we disable anyone who cannot play by our rules. We are frightened by the reality that all of us need help: we needed help as children, we will need help again as elders, and at any time we could need help if we become impaired by injury or illness.
 
When we listen to the truth of others’ lives, we can begin to unchain ourselves from the assumptions that oppress others and ourselves. We can begin to turn away from the false masters of power and independence, and join our brother Jesus in worshipping God alone.